A New Truth
by twobagelscollide
Summary: Ugh... what just happened? who is this guy, and where are we going? this feels weird...
1. Chapter 1: acting on impluse

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, I wonder if there is anyone on this site who doe? that would be interesting to read.

How do they come up with ideas for the anime? is it one guy that brings in an idea which everyone critiques or is it a think tank of a bunch of people spit-balling ideas at each other. That would be fun to watch, but I don't speak japanese... sorry got off topic.

* * *

I was dazed, my surroundings expanded and contracted, undulating to a mystic frequency. My appendages were numb and my head pounding. My Mouth hung agape as I lay motionless with my back propped up against a tree.

A silhouette of a bird darted across the small expanse of ground in front of me. Suddenly everything snapped into focus, the green indistinguishable foliage that spanned my entire field of vision became individual leaves and blades of grass. I noticed the shadow of my tree enveloped me to just beyond the tips of my feet, protecting me from sunlight.

My consciousness finally dispersed the apathetic haze and I tried to move myself, to no avail.

Nothing responded, panic ensued, and my eyes widened with fear. I couldn't even call for help all I could do was exhale loudly which started to make me light-headed.

I tried to think rationally for a second and I noticed something, my nose was bulbous, protruding from my face past its original boundary. I felt body parts twitch subtly; however, I still lacked the ability to distinguish the sensations.

My neck slumped downward and surprise sent a powerful jolt of awareness rippled down my spine as I noticed how wrong everything looked. Staring past my nose I found that it was not just my face that had changed it was my entire body.

Short black fur covered my chest and feet, I noticed it on my nose as well. Blue fur covered my arms, and lower abdominal area. There were hard pearl white ovals stationed on what I believe is my wrist. My hands felt restricted as if they lacked something, when I looked closely I saw that they were paws.

I felt closer to the ground than I should have been. There were black teardrop shaped appendages coming out of either side of my head hanging down the length of my head. I had a light blue tail that was sticking out from behind me, squished from being pressed against the tree.

I had no idea what to think, and my head spun with questions. I barely realized I was able to move now.

Directly behind the tree next to a fallen branch was a set of clothes sprawled across the ground. Next to them was a blue backpack with its contents spilled carelessly across the small area.

I felt something click in the back of my head and the scene gained an air of familiarity. I took a step toward the discarded location, Lost my balance and stumbled forward skidding to a stop with my face.

There was little momentum in the fall though, and I picked myself up unscathed. I rose to my feet again and cautiously took a step forward. My feet (which I guess are paws as well) supported my weight, and balanced me easily; I just needed to adjust to their security.

I attempted to push myself to go faster, the realization that I was alone caused fear to slowly settle in.

I approached the backpack and pushed its flaps apart. The only items left inside were a small red and white sphere with a button in the middle, a laminated, folded piece of paper and a metallic red square.

I reached in and grabbed the ball with both hands (as I struggled to do it with one). A searing headache tore through my head as memories flooded back to me.

In blurred reality an undefined hand extended from the bottom of my vision, proceeding to toss the ball. Before it hit the ground it snapped open in a flash of light and a yellow spikey quadruped appeared before my eyes. It had a ring of white 'fur' around its neck, plus most of its 'fur' looked like needles extending outward from its body.

Just as quickly as the vision and headache arrived, they had vanished leaving me gasping for breath and holding my head. I was astonished at what I had just witnessed, to further investigate I retrieved the ball from the ground and tossed it in the air.

It fell to the ground with a loud empty snap and rolled back to my feet '_I wonder what that was about_?'

Then I noticed that a second ball was clipped to the abandoned pants close by and I felt compelled to try that one as well.

Just like I had hit a replay button when I threw the ball the same beast appeared before me in a flash of white light seeming larger than the rendition in the vision.

"Who are you?" The male voice yelled in confusion. Apparently he saw me as a threat and readied himself for an attack.

"I…I…uh…" I was unable to respond to his question, when I realized I didn't know the answer.

Unimpressed by my lack of response the creature remained in his stance. "Who are you and why did you release me from my pokeball?" his words carried the same impact as before, and again I couldn't answer the question.

A chill shook my body and snowballed into a steady shiver as the intimidating creature destroyed my ability to remain calm.

His expression softened as his eyes scanned the surrounding area and took notice to the strewn items populating the destroyed campsite. Suddenly he glanced back at me and grew pensive with audible hums.

"What happened" his voice was calm now sounding more analytical.

I shook my head slowly from side to side and shrugged, there was a long silence. I stopped trembling at one point and I tried to comprehend the situation along with him.

The creature broke the silence "did you happen to see a human around here"

The word human seemed vaguely familiar,_ 'I wonder_ _where I have heard that before_?' I shook my head because he was the only living thing I have seen so far.

"David," he muttered to himself "he would never leave like this and by the looks of it there was a fight but why wasn't I called out to help" he said worry evident in his voice.

"Who is David?" I asked trying to keep the conversation alive to get more information.

"David is my Master, my trainer" he said informatively, and then added "let's wait and see if he comes back"

"I'm Spike" he stated in a friendly manner.

"Hi Spike" I said feeling like I was expected to say something else, but I was clueless as to what it should have been. As if to confirm my suspicion an awkward tension filled the air.

"Um, what's your name?" Spike questioned

My brain felt stuck like I had overheard the answer before but never really paid any attention to what it was. I could only remain still and say nothing while this beast interrogated me for knowledge that I did not possess.

"Okaaay?" Spike raised an eyebrow and looked off to the side then back to me, "is Riolu fine then?"

I felt like I would have nodded to any suggestion given, and it sounded cool.

"We should wait here and see if my master will make his way back" he started to slowly pad his way over to a shady spot under a nearby tree and lay down. I also went over to the tree but thought it would be uncomfortable to sit so close, and instead sat at the next tree.

I began pondering what was actually happening and how much I really didn't know about the situation. That headache earlier was something that I hoped would never happen again, but for now I put in the back of my mind.

I let my eyes wander the surroundings but my sight-seeing was interrupted by Spike who was now looked in my direction with interest. "Are you with a trainer?" I was fairly sure I was not with a trainer so I shook my head no.

"I was just wondering because you usually don't run into wild Riolu and you… are a little odd, and very tame" he took a slight pause and I was about to try to explain myself but he spontaneously continued.

"Which brings us full circle, why did you decide to release me from my ball?" he sounded genuinely curious and now had his head resting on his front paws while facing my direction.

"I-I don't know, it just felt… right" I couldn't help but think I was lying, because I had actually seen myself do it in some vision. I acted on impulse and I was still slightly dazed from waking up.

His tone only got more suspicious "ok, but then why did you come here in the first place, were you looking for food or something?"

To be honest if I was looking for food then I would not have released him in the first place, there is various food items scattered across the ground.

"I started over there "I pointed in the general direction of where I woke up "I was just curious" my own answer surprised me because I had expected to say that I had no idea.

"What do you mean you started?" the yellow creature seemed confused

"I have no idea where or who I am, what I'm doing here, when I got here or why I came. Truthfully I can only recall the last 10 minutes with any clarity" I spoke wistfully while gazing off to the side, this all felt like a dream.

He perked up, visibly surprised by my answer "oh, so you don't' know your name?"

"No, but Riolu is fine, it sounds cool"

"That's just the name of your species you know" he stated bluntly

I blinked a few times "no, I didn't know that, does it matter?"

"You know what? When my master gets back he can catch you a give you your own name!" The yellow monster spoke enthusiastically but I didn't know exactly what he meant by 'catch'.

"Alright I guess" Spike felt like a friend and I didn't want to leave his company anytime soon.

We sat in silence, me with my hands behind my head which was leaned against a tree and Spike with his head resting between his paws. For the first time I remembered I had a tail, it didn't look like it at first but it is in fact very flexible and sitting on it hasn't bothered me much.

"What do we do if he doesn't come back soon?" I suddenly blurted out

"Actually," the spikey creature got up and walked over to the middle of the clearing then studied the sky "we probably shouldn't take our chances at night"

"We passed a town not too long ago, if we hurry we can get back there before nightfall" he continued and then looked around the site "I think it's this way, come on"

"Why do you want to leave, you just we should stay and wait"

"I don't know how to make a fire" he chuckled nervously

I stared at him "alright if you say so"

I got up and started to follow Spike, and we started off walking through the woods.

There were omnipresent sounds of various creatures that rang consistently throughout the journey. We didn't seem to follow a specific path and most of the trees looked the same to me.

"Do you know where you are going?" I asked suspiciously

"Not really" Spike admitted with a nervous chuckle, I facepawed "I thought we were close to the road" he continued.

We continued through the mildly thick forest for a ways until we came across these three creatures lounging around in middle of a clearing of tallish grass.

The two small ones had light blue fur on their front half and black fur on their back half standing on all fours. They had a yellow four pointed object at the end of their short skinny tails, and a similar object on their giant ears. Their front two paws had a ring of yellow and right under their neck was black fur in what looked to be a collar.

The larger one shared a great resemblance to the other ones except it had two rings on its front paws and a large black mane of hair circling its head.

They spotted us once we were about halfway past their group and they started sprinting at us. They skid to a stop cutting us off from the direction we were heading and got into formation with the two little ones standing at the left and right side of the larger one.

Spike was in front of me and I could see that this situation made him tense. They made me feel tense as well and their presence demanded fear. There was an indistinct crackling sound in the air which was the only audible noise

"Why are you so ignorantly strolling through _our _territory" The large one growled

"We're just… lost, so uh, any of you know where Sandgem town is" Spike said nervously

"No, you know what? I don't think you're lost. I think you two are the ones that have been stealing from our pack!" his voice rose in emotion and volume as he spoke

All three lowered themselves into attack position. Spike responded with his own pose his fur-needles stood on end and the crackling noise became louder and mas soon met with feral growls from the opposition.

Spike turned his head slightly toward me "I don't suppose you remember how to fight"

I sweatdropped "actually now that you mention it…no"

He sighed "then stay behind me"

"Let's teach these assholes a lesson about stealing from us!" the large one roared. As soon as the little ones started moving Spike flared his fur and shot a barrage of yellow needles that devastated the area around them. The large one seemed to wince in pain while the other ones were pushed slightly back.

The one in command then started to spark with electricity and started to charge toward me quickly closing the distance.

I was about to dodge, but the yellow lunatic threw himself in front of me. To my surprise he was not fazed by the intense attack, in fact he was barely pushed back at all. I saw a slight smirk cross Spike's face as he disappeared completely from sight, only to reappear the next instant and land two powerful kicks into the monsters side sending it sliding away.

I was impressed by this show of skill and power. Right then a compelling urge to assist in fighting them off, but there was nothing I could do… right?

As soon as I marked one creature absent from the fight I was tackled mercilessly from behind in a similar shower of sparks. I took the hit hard and slid on my stomach into the middle of the battlefield. The attack was painful but I righted myself and prepared to fight.

A large white streak whizzed by me and slammed into both of the enemies that were in front of me. Not a second later it unleashed large jagged bolts of electricity that collided with, and spread across both targets.

The little one collapsed onto its side and its eyes turned into swirls which filled me with joy knowing that Spike was winning the fight.

I turned to see my earlier assailant approaching me with open jaws. I thought about a way out or even a possible counterattack, but my hesitation allowed it to get too close and I swung my arm haphazardly into its face.

Not seeming to do much (except close the creature's mouth) I was still tackled with much force and pinned down on the grass.

I managed to get my feet under it and fling the black and blue creature off. However when I did, he twisted in midair and hit the ground running… straight back at me. An empowering energy surged through me and I felt my body start to move without my consent. I sprinted out of the way while leaving behind a similar streak of bright white light.

With this new drive and my angered opponent glaring at me from across the field I summoned the power again. I flew at him lowering my posture and bracing for impact while he charged electricity to his fur and started sprinting determined to meet me head on.

We collided at the head and each was sent back in their respective direction with a cry of pain. I was panting heavily and having second thoughts about following through with another attack.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Spike tackle the large one into a nearby tree and then watched its eyes become swirls. '_Wow he took them both out, awesome' _my distraction earned me an incapacitating slam to the stomach; I was not ready to get up again.

Any part of my body that I moved caused a sting of pain, I didn't feel defeated but I stayed sprawled and unmoving.

I heard a thud, then a familiar grunt, and I tried to find its source but could not gather the energy. Everything became silent except for the approaching sound of crunching grass and distant groaning.

Spike appeared standing over me and I let out a sigh of relief. "You ok?" he asked me looking concerned.

"Not really, how about you" I said between pants

"I'm fine, they couldn't even touch me and when they did, well they weren't even close to the toughest enemies I've fought" that made me feel bad about myself, '_how could I not take _one_ of them out while he would have been able to defeat' _all three.

"Let's get out of here before more of them show up" he said seriously

When I rose to my feet a deterring, and painful jolt seized my entire being. I fell forward and my head was caught by the prickly back of my new friend.

"Crap we're going to have to treat that…I think there were some paralyze heals in David's bag" he looked around "which way did we come from again"

I looked as well and noticed that we were at one end of an elliptical clearing that left no indication of our original direction.

Spike sighed "at any rate let's just get away from here" he grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and I heard a muffled "sorry" escape his lips as he drug me into the forest.

The pain seemed to die down over time; although the dragging wasn't making it any better. I tried to calm down and think things through and came up with a summary of my life so far.

'_I woke up, found a demolished campsite, unleashed what is now my only ally in this dangerous world, now we're trying to find some town I don't believe exists, we got attacked, I'm paralyzed, now we're lost, I'm being drug through the woods, and we have NO_ _IDEA where we are going!'_

Spike stopped and laid me down "what was that?"

I looked at him confused "what?"

"I just felt something, I don't know what it was" Spike explained

"I didn't feel anything" answering slightly curious at what it could have possibly been.

We both waited a while in anticipation for something noticeable to happen again, but nothing occurred. Spike went to pick me back up, hesitated and looked up at the sky.

"It's getting late we can continue tomorrow" when he said this both of our stomachs growled in unison and I started to rub mine.

"We haven't eaten anything today, maybe we should have taken stuff with us from the campsite" I pointlessly suggested

"Yeah, I guess we should have, or maybe we can find some berries before dark, can you move yet?" Spike said helpfully

I tested out each limb and tried to stand, and it turns out the pain that was there from earlier was almost nonexistent but still noticeable. "Yeah I guess so, sorry you had to carry me like that" I felt the need to apologize for being such a burden.

"Not necessary, it wasn't your fault just a stupid misunderstanding from those territorial idiots" Spike's pitch got angrier as he finished his sentence.

"Why did they attack us in the first place" I asked trying to remember but nothing came to mind

"I don't know something about stealing their food, which reminds me let's look for some"

We searched until the sky turned yellow and red through the openings in the trees. Since we didn't have a spot to meet up we traveled within eyesight of each other scanning the bushes and trees. I found a bush of round dark blue ones, but we didn't have anything to carry them with so we ate most of them on the spot. We didn't eat them all and there was no better place around us, so we each picked a spot to lie down around the large bush.

I was exhausted before, but those berries gave me so much more energy it made staying still difficult. Spike didn't seem to mind, and he fell asleep in a few minutes. Finally my mind stopped struggling and the world faded to black.

Back at the clearing I was fighting the opponent that defeated me, only I was much larger this time. I stood strong when the now knee high animal charged me. When it reached my leg I picked it up and threw it across the battlefield, its eyes turned to swirls.

I was celebrating my victory when I sensed a new presence and spun around. Facing me was a human, I knew it was a human by instinct but I haven't ever seen one before. He was wearing similar clothes to the ones that were next to me when I woke up, jeans and a black jacket. His hair looked like Spike's fur but black in color.

He pulled something off of his belt and threw it at me, for apparently no reason I didn't out of the way. It hit my head and suddenly I was falling into a black abyss which catapulted me violently from my sleep.

It was pitch black; I could not see much except for Spike's faint yellow glow. I tried not to think about the creatures that could be lurking beyond my own awareness and instead focused on the relaxing drone of the forest.

* * *

**So how did do on the first chapter? what was good and what was bad?**


	2. Chapter 2: back on track

"Regular text"-talking (which there is a lot of in this one)

'_Italicized text'-thoughts_

* * *

The next thing I was conscious of was staring at the brightening sky. Spike wasn't up yet, but he was on his side and snoring softly. I decided to pick a berry off of the bush for breakfast, and this time I realized how much they didn't fill me.

I noticed some rustling coming from the other side of the bush and walked around cautiously. There stood a small plant very occupied with eating berries. It had a small yellow face with a light green clasp of sorts arranged above its head and two pointed stubby legs. To my surprise it had no third or fourth appendage like all of the creatures I've seen so far, even the human in my dreams.

It didn't look nearly as dangerous as the electric black and blue monsters from yesterday.

"Hey" I made myself known to the creature and it didn't react physically to my presence.

"Hi" it said nonchalantly in a decidedly female voice.

She basically just ignored me and kept eating, and the longer I remained there the more awkward it got.

The plant stopped eating and eyed me closely "are you ok you're just standing there with this stupid look on your face"

I hesitated desperately searching for words that didn't make me feel stupid for standing there and doing nothing "Do you know where Sandgem town is?"

"Is that the place with all of the humans, over there?"

"Over where?"

"You know, that way" she said as she pointed to some nonspecific direction behind her

"I have no idea what you're talking about; Spike just said we could go there until his master showed up. We were supposed to be close enough to get there last night but we got turned around when we were attacked"

She stared at me with a blank look on her face until she shook it off "sorry I wasn't listening, I heard something about being attacked by spikes"

"What? That wasn't even close" I sighed angrily

I waited for a gesture to confirm her mental participation, when she nodded; I tried again "ok… Spike, my friend, and I have no idea where we are, do you know where Sandgem town is?" I talked slowly which admittedly sounded a bit condescending.

"I've never heard the name before but why are you looking for Sand town?" she asked

"I-I, don't know exactly" I admitted for the second time

"Where is this other guy you keep talking about? He sounds like he's the one I should be talking to"

I pointed to the other side of the bush even if Spike was asleep I was ready to wake him up because we might finally have our directions. I lead her around the side to find the yellow lump of needles. His chest was still rhythmically rising and falling.

The small green plant rushed over and nudged Spikes face rapidly.

"What are you doing?" I asked, but she didn't respond

When Spike didn't move she ducked her head and slapped him with the clasp on her head… maybe a bit too hard.

Spike flew up from sleeping position with a scream and launched a volley of needle-like fur into his perceived threat.

"Spike WAIT" my yell came far too late as the frail being rolled across the ground and stopped facedown with some glowing needles still stuck in her.

"You killed her, you lunatic!" I yelled

"Why am I the bad guy, _it _was attacking _me_!" he argued. His fur still jaggedly standing on edge.

"So if that's what would have happened if I tried to wake you up, and it, wait _she, _was about to give us directions!" I argued back annoyed

"We don't need directions we're fine" he was starting to calm down as he did his fur flattened itself against its back.

"We have no idea where to go, and that doesn't change the fact you just murdered someone!"

"It's not dead… I think" he walked over and tapped the plant with one paw and it groaned "see?"

I wanted to say something but Spike continued "come on let's start moving"

I looked back out of concern "and just leave her there?"

"She'll be ok I promise, it happened all the time with David" Spike insisted

"This happens all the time?" I said in disbelief

"Of course it does, not everyone is friendly" Spike paused "you said she knew where to go"

"I'm pretty sure that the small plant was not a threat" I continued arguing

"It wasn't my fault, you don't hit someone in the face to wake them up!" he yelled

"Did it hurt?" I asked with motive

"No not really" Spike admitted with a guilty look on his face

"Well I'm no expert, but _that._..." I gestured to the injured creature and the multiple fading needles "probably hurts like hell"

He looked down at the ground "well…I…yeah"

I came to the sudden realization that it sounded like I was scolding a child, and as far as I can tell me and Spike are around the same age

I shrugged "she said something about going to a place with a bunch of humans"

His eyes lit up happy to get off of the subject "yeah that's it, probably, did she mention a way to get there"

"She might have, had she not been assaulted, but she just pointed that way" I motioned vaguely to where I thought she gestured to before.

"So we _are_ just going to leave her here" I repeated to Spike

"There's an Oran bush right next to her. besides when she wakes up I doubt she'll want to help us anyway" he let out a chuckle

"Well, I guess so" I gave up trying to be the nice guy. We needed to focus on our own safety.

I walked over and picked some berries for the road, I could only carry about three without dropping them. Spike didn't look like he would be able to carry any anything so I was stuck with the job.

* * *

We started to distance ourselves from our rest spot and travel further in the direction that this town was supposed to be in. After a few minutes of walking a question brewed in my mind and I decided to ask Spike.

"How did you do all of that awesome fighting against those beasts yesterday?"

He eyed me suspiciously "you mean those Shinx and that Luxio? Well David trained me to know those moves and how to use them in combat"

"What do you mean trained you?" I was confused

"He trained me, It's kind of hard to explain. It's like this, for a majority of my life I have known David, because I was raised by his father as his Pokémon. I was given to David as a birthday gift when he was about to start his Pokémon journey about two weeks ago"

"That didn't sound so hard to explain" I said jokingly

All of a sudden Spike just started pouring out what he was thinking"I'm just worried about him, he's out there all on his own I mean you saw the campsite…" he sighed heavily "look the real reason we left is…well…There is no way that David is ok, that he left on his own. I didn't smell any Pokémon there other than you so it must have been a human… I was supposed to protect him" Spike lamented

I didn't know what to say, because I was not ready for that kind of emotional outburst. At the same time I kind of felt something in the back of head trying to tell me something but I couldn't quite understand it.

* * *

We stopped walking when we came to a large river that ran straight through our path for quite a distance in each direction. The murky water was flowing rapidly from left to right so I couldn't see much but the water looked deep from the size of it. On the other side there was a moving solid-brown lump with three fluffy orbs as its tail. It hoisted itself onto the opposite shore, and when it turned around I saw it had to large sharp teeth that extended far out of its black muzzle.

"Do you think we can go around?" I suggested then started eating my second berry and saving one for Spike

"I have a better idea" Spike inhaled and faced the river "HEY!"

I covered my ear that Spike carelessly shouted into "ow, a little warning next time"

The creature from earlier turned around and faced us with curiosity. "Hello!?" Its voice was high pitched and female

"COULD YOU HELP US CROSS THE RIVER?" Spike announced to the entire forest

"What are you deaf? Stop screaming at the top of your lungs" I growled. My ear was ringing and I stepped away from Spike.

He stared at me suspiciously "top of your lungs? Hmm…"

Before I could respond the girl from earlier popped her head out of the water startling me and causing me to jump backwards "sure thing I do it all time" she chimed.

Something I couldn't tell from far away was that she had a lighter brown portion of fur around her eyes and p puny red nose.

"Really? Well… awesome" I was surprised that all we had to do was ask

"I'm Jennifer" the creature said. I was distracted by the movement of her teeth; as she talked they wiggled in place.

"I'm Spike and this is Riolu" Spike gestured with his paw to himself and then to me

Jennifer lifted herself out of the water, pivoted and looked at me with sympathy in her eyes "oh you poor thing"

I stared back in confusion "um… ok" I looked at spike and he was just as confused as me.

She hopped back into the water and disappeared for a few seconds then came up with a long log in her teeth held perpendicular to her body.

"I guess we grab on" Spike stated. She nodded in agreement and we waited into the water.

"Don't you want the last berry?" I said holding it above the river even though it was still getting splashed

"I'm fine you can have it" more for me I guess

I wrapped my arms around the left side and Spike laid his paws over the right side. I felt uncomfortable with the lack of grip that I had with my paws so I maneuvered myself into a hug position.

Jennifer released unexpectedly and I almost gave into the current. "Everyone paddle" she said and quickly reattached herself into the teeth marks on the log.

I glanced to my right to see that we were supposed to be kicking our feet backwards.

When I began the action I noticed an increasing pain at the top of my head. I shut my eyes in pain as the pain intensified, also it was to rid myself of the stinging that the water created when it got in them. I wasn't focused on paddling anymore and instead used one paw to hold my head until a sharp stab of pain propelled me back into the distorted reality I had witnessed at the campsite.

I was swimming in a river, similar to this one but there were only a few trees around, and the sun was low in the sky. There was a large human silhouette looming over me from the edge of the river standing basically next to the sun. It threw a pokeball high above the river and a white beam shot down and released a Pokémon in front of my face. This Pokémon was blue and white with a black line creating a swirl on its chest; also, it had what looked like white gloves on. I laughed for reasons unknown to me and hung on while the large-eyed creature tugged me through the water.

"Riolu!" A worried voice snapped me back from my vision and I hurriedly grabbed for the log, only to latch onto Spikes wet face. I looked around and Jennifer was also there with an identical Pokémon right beside her and it was the only one that wasn't dripping with water.

"Get off" Spike said without patience. I let go bewildered as to what was happening.

"Are you alright" Jennifer asked with concern

"Define alright, what just happened?" I

"You passed out when we were crossing the river, Jennifer was forced to hold you in place and you almost got swept down the river" Spike sounded like he was annoyed at me, what did I do wrong?

"You looked like you were in pain" Jennifer added quickly

"Igot this really bad headache then I had this …vision, of me swimming with this blue and white Pokémon with a swirl on its chest" I tried my best to explain what happened but it was hard to recall the details under pressure

Spike glared at me "how often does this happen?"

"Well only once before, right before I released you Spike"

"And what happened that time?" Spike asked

"I saw myself releasing you" I answered what felt like a redundant question.

"That seems like an important detail to leave out especially when I asked you why you did it in the first place!" He said angrily

"I guess I'm sorry, but I didn't know what was going on" I answered ticked off

"Ok we'll figure this out later" Spike motioned with a paw toward one of the creatures "this is Mark Jennifer's brother, he just got here"

"Alright, hi mark" I suddenly remembered the time this happened with spike "I'm Riolu"

"Aw, we'd be happy to take you in if you want" Mark blurted out

"It doesn't matter that you are a fighting type we would still raise you as our own" Jennifer joined in excitedly… which weirded me out.

'_Are they trying to kidnap me… politely? No they're too nice, what did I say to them besides my name?'_

"Exactly how old are you two?" Spike questioned

"40" they replied in unison. They sounded like two kids especially Jennifer

I stared at them in disbelief '_they are 40 years old?'_

"I'm sorry but we've, uh gotta go" Spike responded hastily then took off running

I scrambled to my feet "well bye… thanks for the ride!" I said as I ran after Spike who took off into what I could only assume was the right direction. After checked to be sure we were definitely not followed Spike and I started slowing down. I followed Spike was because I trusted him more than those Weirdoes back there. Bits and pieces of dirt and grass were sticking to the bottom of my feet from when was wet but I was mostly dry at this point.

"I would say we lost them but I don't think we were chased, man the Pokémon in this forest are nuts" Spike muttered to himself

"At least you didn't try to kill them this time" I said sarcastically

"That wasn't my fault!" he counted angrily, and his fur elevated itself

"I may have been an accident but it was definitely your fault" I countered

"Whatever… where are we?" Spike frantically looked around

The fact that nothing looked familiar was probably a good sign and the trees were thinner so maybe we're close? Also the grass is taller here and everything seems moister.

"We shouldn't wait here to find out what happens" He looked up "well we still have some daylight left, maybe a few hours"

* * *

It felt like it should be the next day, but everything was happening so fast. Come to think of it has it even been more than 24 hours since I woke up? I put the thought in the back of my mind as we continued our way through the serene forest.

As we travelled the loud crunch of the tall grass echoed against the silence, which made me uncomfortable. I waited until I couldn't bear the silence anymore and started humming. I don't know where the idea came from, or what the song was, but Spike shot me an alarmed look "what are you doing?"

"Humming… sorry, I guess" I didn't think I was doing anything wrong

"No its fine, just…never mind" Spike was hiding something, I needed to figure it out preferably as fast as possible.

As we continued I kept humming but it bugged me that I couldn't remember the name of the song '_I woke up in the woods with amnesia and I'm worried about remembering music?_' I mocked myself

I was surprised at how empty these woods were; despite the occasional noise in the distance we were mostly alone.

"do you remember anything yet?" it took me off guard

"No, nothing" I answered disappointedly

"I was just thinking about what those psychopaths said and maybe they know you or saw you somewhere before"

"If you thought that then why did you run away!? They could have helped me"

"I didn't think about it then" he answered sheepishly

"It's fine… I'm sure we can find someone else around here" I said positively even though there was basically no one around here

As we walked I was keeping a watchful eye out for anyone who might be around to help us. Not to my surprise no one crossed our path; however we did cross into someone else's path.

Right before we entered a clearing spike stepped in front of my and put a paw out to stop me from walking forward. He also uttered a small "shh" and motioned toward an area behind a small bush. I followed the instructions and took a small peek around into the clearing.

Standing there was a human; however, this one was drastically different than the one I saw in my dream. This one I recognized as female, it had dark brown fur… no,… hair down to their shoulders. A light green shirt on and was setting up a fire and a sleeping bag.

"We should sneak past this human and keep going we can still cover some ground" Spike whispered.

"No, not after the last time we tried that, and what's wrong with asking her for directions?" I argued still whispering

"What do you mean _ask_? She's a human she-" Spike got cut off from the sound of a snap and a small flash of light close by. I recognized this as someone opening a pokeball and the only culprit was the human in the field.

"Great not only is it a human, but now it's a trainer" Spike explained no longer whispering

I looked over and I saw a green and yellow Pokémon on the ground at her feet at about a quarter of her height. it was on all fours, Its feet were tipped yellow as well as it's under jaw and the rest of it was grassy green except for its back. Its back was black and brown; also it had a tiny stem and leaf system on its head.

"Isn't a trainer supposed to be a good thing? I thought David was your trainer?" I asked changing to a whisper along the way.

"He was, but there is no way of knowing what kind of trainer this human is, David was a nice kid" He said fondly

I could've sworn that we were whispering quietly enough but the Pokémon turned its head in our direction curiously. I ducked my body back behind the bush trying hoping that I wasn't seen.

"Hello? What are you doing over there?" the cautious female voice called to apparently us

"Riolu! Your pull your tail in, you idiot!" Spike screamed in a loud whisper

The edge of my tail stuck blatantly out from the side of the bush, so I grabbed it and pivoted around until I was sure no one could see it. Did it really matter, when we were already discovered?

"I know your there!" it called out again

"What is it Turtwig?" another female voice questioned

Spike turned to me with an accusatory look, then sighed "stay here" he ordered, and started to walk out from behind the cover.

I could only listen to what was going on but I wanted to see what was going on so badly.

"Hello" I heard Spike say

"Where's the other guy?" the first voice said

"What other guy?" Spike was trying to play innocent

"I heard someone else" the first voice continued confidently

"I have no idea what you are talking about" Spike said

"So you were talking… to yourself?"

"Maybe but-" Spike tried to speak

"Oh wow what's that Pokémon?" the second voice squealed excitedly

Then I heard shuffling and a beep followed by a mechanical voice "Jolteon the lighting Pokémon, using power generated by its cells and static electricity it controls 10,000 volts of electricity at any given time and can launch its needle-like fur at its opponents when agitated"

'_Wow that's awesome why didn't he tell me any of that before, but who said that' _I thought to myself but I was determined to hear every bit of this conversation.

"Wow so cool! Let's try and catch it Turtwig" _what did they mean by catch_?

"Whoa, hold on, I already belong to someone" Spike tried and failed to explain himself

"Oh really? Where are they then?" the first voice said not believing Spike at all.

"Uh… a day's walk in the other direction?" Spike was obviously unsure of himself.

"A likely story" the first voice said sarcastically

"Turtwig use tackle!" the second voice called out

I heard the rapid crunching of grass and a small battle cry; followed by a confused "what?" and then a thud and subsequently the sound of skidding.

I really wanted to see what was going on so I tried to be discrete about poking my head around the corner. Spike was standing confidently staring at…Turtwig, who was staring right back in disbelief.

"Wow you're fast" said Turtwig with admiration

"Yes I am, now you're no match for me I don't want to fight you" Spike said backing down

Turtwig got a smug look on her face "You know what you may be fast but that didn't even hurt"

"That's beca-"

"Turtwig use Tackle again!" The human shouted

Turtwig charged toward Spike and he nimbly jumped out of the way and shot a bolt of electricity towards the Creature that made it cringe.

"That's because I was holding back" Spike finished

"Tackle again!" the Human shouted again

"I have other moves you know!" Turtwig yelled back at her. Despite this the agitated green creature accelerated at Spike. Once again he dodged to the side but this time charged her with a familiar stream of white behind him. When he hit her she flew into her trainer and knocked the surprised human over.

I was standing now and noticed that I was playing with the black teardrop shaped appendages that hang from my face, which seemed to calm me down. I was completely out of cover as the human sat up and shook her head "ow" she groaned.

"Turtwig are you ok?" she started petting the defeated Pokémon that lay tired in her arms. She unclipped a smaller ball from her belt enlarged it and shot a red laser at the Swirly-eyed Pokémon.

"Turtwig's efforts won't be for nothing" she announced and grabbed a different pokeball from her bag.

She focused Spike and I watched in anticipation, '_was Spike going to get trapped in that ball like the one that I released him from?'_

She chucked the ball with intensity at Spike and he just stood there doing nothing '_I should do something!_' that thought propelled me toward Spike but not before he got hit in the face with the ball.

I was standing next to Spike waiting for something to happen but it slapped off of his head and fell harshly to the ground with a crash.

The trainers eyes widened with fear "oh crap, I'm so sorry, please don't tell your trainer I thought you were wild" she was frantically pleading for forgiveness.

She looked around the clearing "where is your trainer, hey what's that Pokémon?"

I saw her take out a small red device and face it toward me it beeped and started talking in the mechanical voice from earlier "Riolu the emanation Pokémon its body has a natural endurance that allows it to crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night. It has the peculiar power to be able to see emotions in the form of waves as well as emit these waves to alert others if it's afraid or sad"

_'was all of that stuff about me?' _I didn't feel like I had any of that, plus if I was able to see emotions wouldn't I have seen some by now?

The human spoke up "wow that's awesome, you're both so cool!" she squealed "do you both belong to the same trainer?" she asked

Spike nodded then looked at me "as far as she knows we both belong to David her Pokémon included"

That was fine with me, and it was obvious that Spike had more experience in these situations.

She walked over to us and picked up the pokeball which I now noticed was in pieces. "Aw it broke" she whined

"How did it break?" I asked the girl, but Spike was the one who answered

"You're not allowed to catch a Pokémon that already has been caught by another trainer; if you try, the ball breaks" he explained

The Trainer stuffed the broken parts into her bag and whirled back around to us "are you two lost?"

Spike shook his head no, but I nodded yes.

"How do we get to Sandgem town?" Asking that question was starting to feel repetitive

She looked at me puzzled "well I guess you could stay for dinner, I hope I have enough food…" she trailed off while she walked back to the spot she had begun setting up.

I was confused dinner sounded like a great idea but it didn't answer my question in any way, shape or form.

There was a blue sleeping bag and an assembled campfire. She reached into her bag and pulled out a purple spray bottle then summoned Turtwig back out of her Pokeball. She started hosing down the small green creature using up the entire bottle "I hope that's enough" she said.

"Considering we haven't eaten anything all day today or most of yesterday I would eat anything right now" I said to Spike

"Yeah same here" he agreed

We waited anxiously as the human poured some brown pellets into three separate bowls and laid them both by the campfire. It was almost dark now and I was surprised when the human lit the campfire behind my back and everything got brighter. Turtwig got up, shook her head and scanned the area then sighed and walked over to us.

"You staying for a victory dinner" she said bitterly

"You could say that, and she offered" Spike said nonchalantly

I followed Spike and Turtwig to the campfire where they started eating. They leaned over and began eating their food from their usual standing position while I sat cross legged because it felt more natural. Glancing over I saw that Spike was already halfway through his bowl and Turtwig was just starting to eat when she looked over at us "my name's Maple"

"Muh numph…" Spike swallowed the food in his mouth "My name is Spike"

"I'm Riolu" I paused then added "I thought your name was Turtwig?"

"Hahaha very funny" Maple replied sarcastically, which I didn't expect.

I waited for an introduction from the human but nothing came and she just watched us eat… which was creepy.

I started eating and this stuff tasted delicious, a lot better than the berries from the other day. I devoured it wholeheartedly and Maple gave us a weird looks.

"Doesn't your trainer feed you two?" she said jokingly

I gave a little chuckle but Spike looked really concerned about something. His face lightened up when he saw me studying him and he smiled uncharacteristically. I want to know what he's hiding but I need to find the right time to ask.

After watching us the whole time, the female human finally spoke up "um…are you going to stay the night?" she asked nervously.

"Well we don't want to overstay our welcome, but we really don't know where to go" I responded cautiously

An awkward silence filled the air as I just got a blank stare.

"So are you two lost" Maple interrogated

"Very lost" I motioned with my eyes to Spike "we have no idea where our trainer is" I realized this wasn't much of a lie the only untrue part was that David was not my trainer.

"Come on I think we can at least get to Sandgem town on our own" Spike said defensively

Something had been bugging me ever since we first got lost "and what do you plan on doing once we get there?"

"Look for David, why?" Spike asked curious

"I don't know it just doesn't seem like we'll have much luck finding him there if we had to travel this far to get there"

"I'm at least glad to see you all are getting along" the human interjected while smililing

"We'll find David and if we don't then I know the road from Sandgem town to Jubilife where we can find his parents and tell them" I had to admit he did have it figured out but finding the road seemed to be a crucial part of his plan.

Maple interrupted "Jubilife is only about an hour away from here, we left Sandgem two days ago"

"If it's only an hour away then why are you camping in the woods?" Spike asked

"Casey here can't read a map right" She said motioning toward the human "if we went off this path for a second we'd be lost"

I was expecting some kind of reaction from the hu-, Casey but there was nothing.

"You know that sounds a lot like you Spike" I said mockingly

"Well you're the one with amnesia"

"How was that a comeback at all?" I replied with a laugh

"Shut up, like you had anything better" he playfully retorted

"I don't need to have anything better to outwit you" I said coolly

Then I laughed at my own comment while his eyes told me 'I'll-get-you-next-time'.

"I can tell you've known each other for a long time" maple said confidently

"Yeah tomorrow morning it'll be… two days" I said half-sarcastic

"What? You sound like best friends!" She exclaimed defending herself

"Nope just met no name over there yesterday when he released me from my Pokeball" Spike informed her and then cringed but I couldn't quite understand why.

It started to get dark and Casey started walking over to her sleeping bag. The sun was completely gone and the surrounding woods were shrouded in darkness while the vibrant campfire defined the boundaries of the clearing in dancing orange light.

"You wanna sleep out here tonight Turtwig?" Casey questioned our small group

Maple nodded but I was confused "why does she call you Turtwig"

She gave me an "ah" and a nod "well Amnesia, Pokémon can't talk to humans"

"So no one thought to explain this to me while I was trying to hold a conversation with her?" I almost yelled

Spike stifled a laugh "it was too fun to watch you try"

Maple giggled "good night" and sauntered over and plopped down against Casey's sleeping bag

"Good night Riolu" Spike walked a little closer to the fire and curled up, which was a different position than when last night when he just sprawled himself on the ground. I looked around for my own comfortable spot which turned out just to be a random spot on the ground next the fire.

When I began drifting off to sleep I started thinking about my memory '_maybe I should try harder to remember my past' _was there even a reason too? Spike was nice, these people were nice, and I'm enjoying my life so far. However remembering might be the answer to getting rid of those headaches, and I needed to get rid of them fast. Oh well I can figure this out tomorrow…

* * *

**Don't worry if you have a lot of questions Because I do as well. I haven't planned out anything past this chapter so it'll be a mystery to me too! So far this has been a culmination of a few different Pokémon and animal related dreams I have had. Now I just need to continue it normally…or wait for another dream…the first one is more likely.**

**Anyway review so I can better understand what I am doing right and wrong.**


	3. Chapter 3: surprise confrontation

A pressure on my arm rocked me back and forth. Struggling to open my eyes I found that I was being nudged by a familiar yellow paw. I pushed it away uncaringly and rolled over trying to fall back to sleep. A powerful shock connected with the hard bumps on my wrist and I instantly shot to my feet.

"Ow, what do you want" I was annoyed but now I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep if I tried.

"Let's go" Spike said quietly

"Go where?" I was still a little delirious from being forced awake.

"To Jubilife, they said it was a short walk away" he urged. I looked around and found that the girls were peacefully cuddled up to one another on the sleeping bag a few meters away. The sun was just beginning to rise and the sky was brilliant yellow.

"Without them?" I thought the plan was that we would go to the city together… it was only logical.

"Yes without them, we can go get help from David's parents" Spike was trying to get his point across like I didn't understand.

"And we can do the same thing with them, and it seems kind of rude not to say goodbye" I wasn't going anywhere

"Come on! We have only known them for a few hours and that human can't help us, let's go" he said urgently

"How is that different than me? Why should I trust you more than I trust them?" my choice of words were as much of a surprise to myself as they were to Spike

"Alright then, I'm going, your choice to follow me or not" I didn't want to choose I wanted everyone to stay together

"So you're just going to leave, one way or another?"

"Yeah" he said flatly.

"Then just stay and wait for them to get up, and you can leave when we reach the city" I lied I didn't want him to go even when he reached the city. al

"Why do you want to stay with these two so bad?" he spat angrily

"I don't know it's just… um" when I thought about I couldn't think of a reason for or against leaving

"Well?" Spike was noticeably impatient

"I could ask you the same question about leaving" I started to legitimately wake up and began stretching and bending my flexible body.

"We can't trust that human she might try and catch you if she finds out" Spike was barely whispering anymore, actually neither one of us was for awhile

A female voice made me jump "find out about what?" it was Maple she was standing right behind me and was listening to our conversation. Casey was still deeply asleep in her sleeping bag.

We were all silent, and I wasn't sure of what to say so I turned to Spike expectantly. He gulped "none of your business, get the human up so we can leave" he said sternly

"So I guess you guys want to along for the trip to Jubilife. If that's true then you had better tell me what you were talking about" Maple's eyes got more intense as she requested our secret. Not belonging to a trainer must be a huge deal because Spike has been intent of keeping that knowledge unknown since we came across these two.

"We don't you to take us anywhere, we can do it ourselves" Spike responded. As far as I knew Spike had no clue what he was doing when it came to travelling so I stepped in.

"If you could at least point us in the right direction that would be helpful" I still wasn't too sure about leaving but if I had to then I didn't want to get lost again

"Fine you tell me what I want to know and I'll tell you where to go" the ultimatum was apparently a dangerous gamble

"Come on, our trainer is out there probably dead or dying and you aren't going to help us?" Spike was angry; in fact I knew he was angry before he said anything from the slight elevation of his fur.

Maple actually became embarrassed; I guess she forgot why we were here in the first place. Spike's bluntness was unusual but maybe it was just an act

"…Sorry" She muttered breaking eye contact "I'll get Casey up so we can get going, there you happy?" She started back toward the sleeping human.

I walked closer to Spike and talked low next to his large ears "see it all worked out, all you needed to do was ask" Spike seemed unhappy but willing to take the offer.

I turned to see Casey sitting up and petting Maple. She stretched and looked around until her eyes rested on us and she smiled. I gave a slight wave but Spike turned away and didn't say anything else. It was a short process packing up the campsite the bowls were stuffed into the bag along with the sleeping bag which had to be violently squeezed in.

After hoisting the bag on her shoulders with slight difficult Casey looked directly at Maple "do you want to go back into your Pokeball?"

The small green animal seemed stumped until her eyes found us then she rapidly shook her head no. Casey smiled "alright you can stay out, but I'm not going to carry you if you get tired"

In her arms was a large piece of paper that she unfolded to reveal that on the inside there were lines and a plethora of colors I couldn't make sense of.

We started traveling in the direction that Casey seemed sure about. It was nice having another creature walk on two legs like me, '_actually that plant walked on two legs' _a pang of guilt travelled through my body as I remembered that we just left her there.

We pushed through what was only a minute or two of light forest and broke onto a wide, neatly kept dirt road. We all stopped and waited while Casey looked at the map "It says, this way" she began in direction and we all followed.

It took me a while of silence to notice that Spike had fallen behind the group and was keeping a consistent few meters between us; Maple was walking in between me and Casey.

I got the urge to hum again because there was little noise and no one was talking. After a few moments of enjoying myself, Maple noticed and commented "you know the professor used to do that all the time when I lived at the lab" she lowered her eyelids "it was kind of annoying"

"Fine I'll stop" I said disappointed

Casey looked down and over down at me still holding the map in one hand, and her eyes widened "I've never heard of a Pokémon humming before did you pick that up from your trainer" she sounded excited like she did yesterday when she first saw Spike and I. Although I didn't think my humming was it was a big deal, everyone else did maybe I shouldn't do it at all.

"No just kind of started doing it" I said with a shrug

"Hey Turtwig do you do anything like that" Maple cringed at the misuse of her name and sighed. Casey took this at as a no and returned her attention to the road.

If I wasn't going to hum then this trip needed some conversation why not start one myself?

"How long have you been wandering around in the woods" I asked the girls even though I knew only one would answer

"We got lost once so two days I think? The day before that Casey chose me over my good friend who was a Chimchar and the newborn Piplup, in order to start her Pokémon journey" Maple genuinely answered

"What does one do on a Pokémon journey?" I asked

"Well Casey wants to take on the Sinnoh league and to do that she needs to face the eight gyms and their leaders" she started smiling "to be honest it's what I've always wanted…"

I was struggling with a follow-up question when she asked me "How long have you been out there Amnesia?"

"Probably two days, most likely a lot more" I was going to tell Maple my story and get it off of my chest but I wanted Spike to weigh in while I was telling it. I glanced back to find he was glaring directly at me until I made eye contact and immediately he started looking the other way. It was for the best if I left him alone.

Maple was waiting patiently for me to say something

"Early in the morning two days ago I woke up really disoriented and unable to move laid up against a tree. After a few moments the paralysis vanished and everything about me felt strange or unnatural. I was in front of an abandoned campsite and I started rummaging through this bag that was spilled all over the area. Then I found this one pokeball clipped to some pants and had a strange, painful vision about releasing Spike from that pokeball. When I actually did release him in reality he-"

A jolt of electricity stung my tail and I yelped in pain. I stopped and whipped around facing Spike it kind of felt like he was angry with me. "What was that for?" raising both paws to show my opposition.

"What are you doing Riolu? That was supposed to be a secret!" Spike yelled which seemed counterintuitive to secrecy. The girls had stopped and were now watching to see what happens next.

I felt clueless as to what he was talking about"what was supposed to be a secret?"

Spike gained suspicious looks from both of the observers, while I was confused and wondering what I had done wrong.

"Um… actually I stopped you because…uh… you were telling the story wrong" Spike didn't seem sure of himself.

"I thought I was telling it right… and what part of that made it ok to shock my tail?" I leaned my arm back and rubbed my tail gently, '_he meant to hurt me with that attack_'

"Guys please don't fight" Casey said worriedly. In fact she confirmed the way that I felt right then. Spike was preparing to fight and I wanted no part of that.

Maple joined in "I think I figured out your little secret, and if I'm right then I don't mind"

I gestured with both arms toward Maple "see she doesn't care so just tell her and get it over with"

"No, what if she didn't guess right? Then she might…do… something" Spike chimed in from the distance

I turned to Maple "ok you guess, and _I'll _tell you if you're right or wrong"

"Ok you two ran away from your trainer, you're not lost and you want to come with us" she suggested

"Crap I thought you had it" I paused for a second and looked back at Spike to find a fierce expression on his face.

"The truth is we are looking for David but I don't belong to him only Spike does and I also don't see why telling you is such a big deal" I felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders but a new one was added soon after when I noticed the offended look on my companions face.

Casey was freaking out not know what to do and frantically looking back and forth between Spike and Maple and I "everybody calm down… we're close to the city so… behave?"

'_Why can't she understand us, when we can understand anything she says?'_ I sighed and walked over to her and tugged on her legs "let's just go he'll calm down when we get there"

"Stop treating me likes a child!" Spike roared, His fur Flared and stuck out in all direction and a loud crackling noise was audible

"What are you talking about? I only did that like twice…maybe three times" I was inappropriately calm despite his anger, but this only fueled his unexplained rage.

"I can take of myself and you... I've had my suspicions but now I'm sure you have something to do with David's disappearance!" Spike was letting it all out and looked ready to fight

I wasn't ready to get the crap beaten out of me for something I didn't do '_but how do I calm him down'_

"Maple say something" I bent down and whispered into her ear "I have no idea what he's talking about"

She backed away shaking her head "I'm not in this"

I rolled my eyes "thanks"

"Stop ignoring me! I guess I'm going to have to get the truth out of you the hard way" and with that Spike had started to charge me at top speed leaving behind a streak of glowing white light. On instinct I jumped straight up and he passed harmlessly underneath me and stopped himself before colliding with Casey. I landed hard using my front paws to lessen the impact to my feet.

"You want the truth? The truth is that I haven't done anything and you are overreacting!" I was more focused on preparing for another attack then I was on talking.

"Where's David!" he screamed while charging me with the same attack as before, I jumped again. However he was prepared this time and he jumped with me biting me hard on my upper right arm. Spike shook his head and flung me into the ground. He then landed with his full body weight on top of me and his four paws holding each of my limbs down making sure one was on the bite wound. I screamed in pain not only from my arm but from a different pain at the top of my head.

Spike was seething with anger and proceeded send a continuous electric shock through my entire body. When I was encompassed by electricity I barely noticed the flood of a familiar sensation that created a separate pain around my head.

I opened my eyes to find a more comforting scene, a flat grassy field like none I have seen so far. The edges of my vision were blurred and foggy, but I could make out a small house. I turned around at the sound of crunching grass and found a small brown-furred creature. It had a large collar of cream fur around its neck as well as a bushy brown tail tipped with the same cream color. I noticed and took interest in its familiar dark black eyes.

It jumped ramming me in the stomach knocking and pinning me to the ground playfully. It vigorously licked face and I started laughing we were happy to see each other again. Then an imposing figure came closer and from the Pokémon on my chest I could tell who it was. "Welcome home Dad" and with that everything faded to black.

I listened to faint echoes of indiscernible voices until vitality rushed back into me. My arm was throbbing and when I tried to comfort it with my other paw I realized that everywhere hurt.

While watching the world dash by me through half open eyes I realized that I was being carried. An image of Spike flashed into my mind and I sat up almost falling out of the carrier's arms. "Don't try and move we're taking you to the Pokémon center" Casey's voice rang out and that's when I noticed she owned the arms that were supporting my weight.

"Ugh… what happened?" I groaned

"Your asshole friend knocked you out and then took off" Maple voice came out sporadically from somewhere below me.

"Great… thanks…for the help… by the way" it felt unnaturally hard to talk. My breathing was a bit labored and couldn't quell the aches coming from the spot on my arm that I now noticed was painted blood red.

"Try not to talk" Casey said quickly

To be honest I didn't feel like it anyway, and I let my head loll toward the sky. I lost myself in a trance staring at the blue sky and passing clouds, however this trance broke once the scenery changed.

Tall grey buildings with shining clear squares cut out of them loomed ever closer. I looked forward when we passed through a wall and saw that in enclosed paved roads and sidewalks that felt comforting. Unlike the forest where there was barely any life at all, this place was full of humans and each one was slightly different in the clothes they wore. '_Maybe I should get some clothes'_

We captured many stares as Casey sprinted through the city. All around us were similar looking buildings until we rushed up to one that had a red roof and we pushed through the sliding glass doors. She took a few steps forward and finally slowed to a stop at a brown counter.

"Oh my, what happened" I looked to find the owner of the feminine voice and I was looking at a woman wearing a white nurse's outfit. She was wearing a cap that had a red plus sign on it. Her vibrant red hair came down in two wide loops on either side of her head. There was a counter in between Casey and her.

"This Riolu was attacked by a Jolteon, I got him here as fast as I could" Casey spat out

A shiny silver cart was wheeled out by a Pokémon wearing a similar white cap. It was rounded, pink, fat, and was holding an egg on its stomach in a small pouch. I was placed gently on the cart but that didn't stop pain form surging through my arm making me cringe.

"Don't worry you'll be fine" the creature said to me in a cheery, comforting tone that was surprisingly male-sounding

"Ok" I said weakly

The female human took over and wheeled me through a steel door into a hallway. This hallway was mostly glass on either wall, and through the glass you could see beds, complex machinery and various medicines.

I passed a few Pokémon that I could not get a good look at and was steered into a room of my own. I was again carefully lifted and placed onto a semi-comfortable bed where I was propped up.

"Hold still" the Woman commanded as a powerful acidic sting ravaged my right arm when liquid was poured over it and the area rubbed with an absorbent towel. With separate moist towels they both scrubbed everywhere to remove the obvious dirt from my fur that accumulated over the past few days _'how nice of them'_ I thought sarcastically. Anytime they pressed to hard I winced, it was like everywhere was a bruise.

The Human walked over to the counter and messed around on it for a little while. When she turned around she had a device that struck fear in my heart. Suddenly I knew all too well that the device was a needle and that needles were scary. It contained a lime green liquid in the glass part of it which made me uneasy.

I felt like running away but I knew it wasn't an option so I just started to shake in fear.

"What is that?" The human eyed my curiously and put her hand on her chin"That must be that ability that I heard about once before"

Her Curious expression quickly turned into a pleasant smile "Don't be so afraid we're not going to hurt you"

"Yeah kid relax it won't even hurt, trust me" the pink creature assured me.

I didn't let up on the shaking and I was unsure of whether to actually trust them when a soft swab rubbed an area on my right arm. I looked over to see the human preparing to plunge the needle into me. Jerking away, I ignominiously fell to the floor right on my face, admittedly not one of my more graceful moments.

I was heaved back onto the table by the short arms of the pink creature who let out a sigh "looks like we'll have to do this the hard way"

With unexpected strength I was soon pinned to the table by the shoulders as the needle punctured my arm. It was held there for a second or two and then pulled out "there, now that wasn't so bad now was it?" the human said triumphantly.

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment because I made fool out of myself for nothing.

As the Human started tightly wrapping white bandages around the bite mark I began to feel drowsy. My eyelids became hard to hold up and I felt less and less inclined to attempt to move anything. I leaned back against the angled part of the bed and let sleep wash over me.

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**How did this chapter wind up so short? It doesn't feel right, oh well.**

**There are a few things I need to work out Plot wise. I hope I can do it right because there is some nice potential for Spike's future interactions with Riolu.**

**Feel free to leave some positive and negative feedback, as well as your own ideas for what you think will happen next, if you have any.**


	4. Chapter 4: prelude to adventure

The chapter title sounds like the name of a whole story doesn't it? Although, if it was a story then we would never actually see the adventure part. Though I would still probably read it, so I could understand the sequel "Adventure" and the trilogy story "Adventure's Aftermath"...sorry.

* * *

I noticed a strange rhythmic beeping noise before I opened my eyes. My face was buried inside a pillow strangely facing down. When I rolled over, a dull pain radiated through my tail which called to my attention the white bandages that covered most of it, and my right arm. Most of the soreness was gone and I comfortably was able to sit myself up. Neither one of the Nurses from earlier were anywhere to be seen.

There was a clear tube with one end stuck into my arm, which freaked me out. The closer I looked at everything the more dramatized it became and the less I wanted to stay. I ripped the tube out, and hopped to my feet suffering from a slight dizziness. Using the side of the bed I made my way to the door. I reached up with my good arm and bent my paw around the latch and pulled. After a loud click the door swung inward and I made my way outside.

The first thing I noticed was that directly across the hall was another patient in an identical bed.

It was a large bird lying on a bed that was more like a square than mine was. It had grey…'_what do birds have… feathers_? _Yeah feathers_' it had grey feathers on its one wing and white feathers on its chest. The white feathers were cut by a zigzagging pattern of darker grey.

It had orange…talons along with a similarly colored…beak '_stupid bird terminology'_ both tipped with grey. I couldn't see the top of its head or most of its face, but I saw red feathers coming out of somewhere up there.

The most prominent detail was that the other wing was completely wrapped in white bandages _'what is it with this place and bandages?'_

I quickly made my way to the door I remembered coming in from. It was the same steel door from what I assume is yesterday but when I pulled on this latch the door stayed tightly shut. Thinking of a way out wasn't hard and I came up with a solid solution.

I knocked on the door a few times and waited. After a few seconds I knocked again and a voice came from behind me "uh hello?" the rounded pink Pokémon from yesterday was standing there looking at me.

"Hi…I'm better now…so I'm leaving" I said with a nervous forced smile

"Oh really? And I suppose white compresses are the new trend around here" it said in a sarcastic highlow pitched voice

"Just trying to be fashionable" I replied in off-handed sarcasm of my own

"You should be resting right now" it spoke sternly. I was having second thoughts about its gender at this point because it now had a low pitched voice. '_I need to work on my focus' _I forced my concentration back on my escape.

"Can't I rest somewhere else, _anywhere_ else?" I pleaded

"Fine you can go sit in the lobby with your trainer but no strenuous activity" The creature was swapping tones of voice left and right and I was confused. Nevertheless it opened the door with the card it had hanging around its neck and I was out of that nightmare.

I came out next to the Human Nurse and crept against the wall making sure that I wasn't seen. There were many other Humans around some with and some without Pokémon. I earned a few stares from the curious and the suspicious but it didn't take long for me to spot Casey sitting in a booth with Maple on the other side of the room.

I felt at ease with these two in my sight and stared making my way over. They didn't notice me walk up to them and I was hoping to maybe pick up on some conversation, but they were totally silent.

"Hey" I announced

I got a simultaneous head turn, and both had happy expressions

"Amnesia, you look terrible" came from Maple while "I'm glad you're ok Riolu" came from Casey immediately afterward

"I thought you were going to be in there another night" Maple continued

"Yeah, I probably will because this still hurts" I pointed at my arm

Maple was quick to respond "I bet it does, because wow, I've never seen anyone get utterly destroyed like that before" she said with a smirk

I clutched at my chest and donned a fake pained expression "ow, that one hurt my pride"

Maple giggled, but Casey looked distraught "oh man your trainer is going to kill me" she leaned forward and buried her arms on the table

I gave Maple a surprised look "you haven't told her yet?"

"Of course I didn't tell her you idiot, remind me never to lose my memory" She said harshly. It took me a few seconds to realize the fact that she was talking about the fact that we could not communicate.

Casey gestured to the spot next to her "come on up"

While lifting myself up onto the booth seat I slammed my bad arm into the corner of the table. I sucked in through my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut "ow"

Maple started laughing and I tried to laugh along with her at my own clumsiness "I'm glad you find my pain so funny"

"Your face was priceless" she continued laughing

We sat there for a while and I started to observe the people that were coming and going from this place. Any human so far that had come in here owned a Pokémon and this was evident because each went through a certain ritual. They would walk up to the counter and hand the human (who I now know as Nurse Joy) a pokeball or a Pokémon and she would take them away. Eventually the Pokémon would be returned to the human after undergoing what I assume is the same process I went through.

I started thinking about Spike and what he was doing. It got me riled up how he just decided to attack me and then leave. There is no connection between me and David but no matter how hard I thought I could not rid myself of the feeling that I was wrong. Also what Spike said made no sense to me, "where's David" implies that I know where he is '_I barely knew where _I _was'_

There was no need to think about this now and when I find Spike then I can ask him myself. Casey and Maple are nice people, and if I had to choose between them and that yellow stack of needles… in a perfect world I wouldn't have to.

"So how long was I in there" I asked trying to change my own internal subject

"A little over a day" that was big news to me until I remembered being stuck with a needle right before passing out.

"I think they drugged me… should I be concerned?" I asked

"Nah, it's happened to me a few times it always wears off" Maple replied honestly

"This place is a deathtrap I'll be glad when we leave" This place scared me for some indefinite reason but this section of it wasn't the bad part, that was back there.

"Aw is someone of afraid of a little Pokémon center" Maple mocked

"You would have been in here too if you had bothered to help me with that lunatic" my tone was accidentally serious

"Exactly I wouldn't have been able to help, so I didn't" it made sense and plus I barely knew her. Also they are the ones who took me here to get fixed up anyway I guess it was all they could do.

Casey looked depressed while following our conversation with her head "you guys talk way too much, I feel left out" Maple and I both laughed which made Casey smile.

"At least that Jolteon isn't here, I guess you don't get along with him then?" I didn't expect Casey to ask me a question.

I nodded and she sighed "I can't believe a trainer would have Pokémon that are constantly at each other's throats. On top of that they lost both of them, so irresponsible. Riolu do you even like your trainer?" Casey ranted

I rolled my eyes and tried to get some assistance from Maple who gave a sort of shrug "I don't know how to answer that any more than you do"

I decided on 'no' and shook my head as my answer, because how could I like someone I've never met.

"You must be starving I'll go see Nurse Joy and get some food" The sudden change of topic was jarring and Casey walked away toward the counter. She quickly made her way over to the counter and started a conversation with Nurse Joy. They stood there of several seconds and then Maple commented "I bet they're talking about you"

"What do you mean" I was confused I thought she was going to get food

"if you're so interested then go see for yourself" she said commandingly

I hesitated but soon hopped off of the comfy booth seat and made my way over to a table close to the counter. I was barely able to hear what they were saying.

"…Riolu…is…trainer… Jolteon?" I got closer buy ducking behind the opposite site of the counter and the conversation became clearer. Now Nurse Joy was talking

"Alright I'll check the records just look after him in the meantime, and here's the Pokémon food you wanted"

"Thank you" I waited for something else to happen and a rapid clicking sound came from above the counter and I patiently waited for someone to say something.

"There is only three trainers in Sinnoh who own a Jolteon and only one of them would be anywhere around here" Nurse Joy explained "It says here that a young beginning trainer named David recently received a Jolteon from his father, and became a registered Pokémon trainer not too long ago at Sandgem town. Though I know the Dad personally and no one has heard from him in a while"

I was absorbing every word and as far as I could tell it matched what Spike told me exactly. _'How did she know all of this?'_

Nurse Joy continued "there is no mention of any Riolu. Only Lucario here and there, strange… maybe the Riolu is wild"

"That can't be true. It's so well adjusted to being around Humans" Casey protested

"When I was trying to administer a dose of medicine yesterday he started shaking and tried to run away. Chansey wound up having to hold him down, that doesn't sound like adjusted to me" I felt a wave of embarrassment again because that memory was very clear in my mind.

Nurse joy continued because Casey was apparently unconvinced "He broke out of Intensive Care but instead of running of the center he ran straight to you"

"But Riolu gets along with Turtwig so well, I just kind of assumed" Casey paused "What do I do Nurse Joy?"

"Sounds like he's has taking a liking to you, see if he wants to come along with you on your journey" Nurse Joy replied cheerily

Now was as good a time as any to reveal that I had been listening to their conversation. I walked slowly around the corner and was instantly noticed by Casey who smiled and couldn't seem to put two and two together.

"Don't worry I got the Pokémon food no need to be so impatient" Casey spoke like she had no idea I was listening, maybe it was for the best

My stomach tightened into a knot at the sight of the bag of food. It released an inaudible gurgle and I realized how hungry I actually was. After Casey said "Thank you so much for all of the help Nurse Joy" we walked back to the table and rejoined the giggling green creature.

"How'd it go? You looked like an idiot" she asked mid-giggle

"It went great, in fact I'll tell you later" I said mischievously and her expression grew a little more serious

"You aren't even supposed to know and now you're not going to tell me" She looked shocked

"I want it to be a surprise and it shouldn't be long anyway"

Casey knelt down and started touching my tail which made me uncomfortable. I spun and swatted her hand away and she just smiled "relax, Nurse Joy said I could take the bandages off of your tail" I looked back and saw the unraveled white strands hanging off.

I stood motionless and uncomfortable while Casey started laughing again. I chose to defend myself this time "I don't like it when people touch my tail"

"Try having a less hilarious face then" she retorted

"There, all done now let's feed you" Casey chimed

I reached back and bent my tail back and forth it felt fine, which was a relief. The sun was setting and the fluorescent lights activated within the Pokémon center providing a more clear view of everything in the lobby. Casey got up "come on we have to go back to the room"

I stood there unmoving watching the last trainer in the lobby who was waiting with his elbows leaned on his legs supporting his head. I didn't really want to go to bed, because I basically just got up bug I sighed.

"Come on Riolu" Casey urged. I grunted and followed unwillingly _'there was nothing to do anyway' _I assured myself. We travelled through a corridor and many flights of steps ultimately reaching what was supposed to be our room.

All of the brown doors looked the same besides each one having a different number. We went up to the one labeled '311' and Casey inserted a card similar to the one around Chansey's neck earlier. She turned the knob and pushed into it to reveal a single small bed with blue sheets a TV and bedside nightstand.

Casey walked over to her bag, but when she opened it the sleeping bag fell out and unfolded. Unaffected by this she continued through her bag pulling out two of the three bowls and setting them down. She ripped open the paper bag of Pokémon food and poured it haphazardly into each one.

"I'm beat. Good night Turtwig, Riolu" Casey plopped onto the bed without another word

I consumed my food almost whole until the last few which I savored and actually tasted. The other bowl barely had anything missing from it but Maple was still eating.

"Ok tell me what happened" Maple whispered

"Do you really want to know?" if I joined the team then I might have to get put in a pokeball but that doesn't seem to bother Maple

"Of course I want to know, what a stupid question" she fired at me

"Alright there was Good news, bad news, awesome news and I have a question, in that order"

"Stop stalling" Maple whispered not amused

"First Nurse Joy somehow knew I don't belong to anyone, so that's one problem solved. Second David is apparently missing, with everything Spike was talking about and how I found him in the first place that seems true. Third-"

"Wait hold on how exactly did you 'find' him you never finished telling me" Maple stopped me mid-sentence

"Fine… did I find the bag yet?" I questioned

"You got to when you found the pokeball" Maple corrected

"Well hats basically it, I unleashed Spike from that ball and he was confused. I had just woken up though so I was out of it and I couldn't answer any of his questions. Spike was really suspicious of me, but anyway he has this brilliant idea to leave this campsite and start walking to the last town he remembers being at with David. That's when we got lost and ran into these other Pokémon. They beat me up but Spike basically took care of all three and wound up having to drag me through the woods… anyway long story short after a another day of being hopelessly lost we stumbled upon you two. Spike didn't trust you and wanted to go around but then you saw us and you know the rest"

Maple was paying close attention and really getting into my carelessly described story"And that's the story of my life" I finished it off

She pondered this for a second "if all of that happened to me, along with what happened yesterday, there is no way I would be in such a constant good mood as you. It's not normal for someone to be that happy for no reason"

Well it was because I felt like I had people to rely on friends like her, Casey and Spike. I didn't feel like telling her that in fear of that being held over head forever.

"Go to bed guys" Casey groaned muffled by the blanket

Maple jumped onto the bed and snuggled up against Casey. With that Casey reached out and turned off the light and with the curtains pulled back it became pitch black. _'I miss Spike, he was an awesome nightlight' _

"So where do I sleep?" I asked from my sitting position on the floor

A tiny pillow brushed by after being thrown off of the bed '_must have been Maple'_ "gee thanks" I muttered. I realized that I never got to the awesome news; maybe it will be a surprise after all. After putting the pillow under my head and listening to the slow breathing of the other two in the room I concluded that getting comfortable was not an option. Exploring the rest of this place would be terrifying at night…alone, but constantly adjusting my position was worse and was getting on my nerves.

I got up thankfully not causing anything to creak and waking them up. I searched for the wall with my paw and once I found it started making my way along the wall to the door. Blindly I scanned for the doorknob, but once I found it I noticed a flaw in my plan. '_This thing is impossible to grip!'_ I growled in frustration ultimately slumping into the corner.

I sighed thankful that I didn't wake anyone up and forced myself to find a comfortable position. I struggled with myself until I ran out of energy and closed my eyes just to rest them a little bit…

* * *

**Author's notes: This one was slow it had a slow feel and took place with literally no commotion at all. On the other hand most of this had to happen at one point and I'm glad I managed to get it out of the way.**

**Hopefully next time I get to write a battle because I want some action! But I don't know what will happen any more than you, except for the thing that you can probably guess for yourself.**


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